Thursday, January 19, 2023

Analyst predicts PH will fare well in Selangor polls




Analyst predicts PH will fare well in Selangor polls


Bersatu can win some seats in the Selangor legislative assembly but not to the point of defeating the PH state government, says analyst Azmi Hassan. (Bernama pic)


PETALING JAYA: A political analyst predicts that Pakatan Harapan will fare well in the Selangor state elections expected in the middle of this year.

However, Akademi Nusantara’s Azmi Hassan said Barisan Nasional stood to lose several seats to Perikatan Nasional (PN).


Azmi told FMT that BN lynchpin Umno was at its weakest point in history with a split between a faction supporting top leaders Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and Mohamad Hasan and another wanting a change in leadership.

In its current state, he said, Umno would lose the Malay votes it gained in the 15th general election to PAS and Bersatu of PN.




“Following what happened recently during the Umno annual general assembly, I think Bersatu can win some seats in the state but not to the point of unseating the PH state government, since I think PH and BN will work together well in terms of seat allocation,” he said.

“On paper, PH should look good in Selangor.”

He also predicted that BN would retain the four state seats it won in the 14th general election, namely Hulu Bernam, Sungai Burong, Sungai Panjang and Sungai Air Tawar.

At its general assembly last week, Umno passed a no-contest motion for the posts of president and deputy president, upsetting several quarters who wanted to see changes following its dismal performance in GE15.


Former Selangor Umno chief Noh Omar said later he feared the party’s chances in the state elections – expected in the middle of the year – would be adversely affected following the decision not to allow contests for the top two posts.

Selangor PAS chief Ahmad Yunus Hairi has expressed confidence that PN stood a good chance of winning in the Selangor polls after it wrested six parliamentary seats from PH and BN in GE15.

Azmi and another analyst, Universiti Malaya’s Awang Azman Pawi, said they believed PKR would do better in the state elections than it did in Selangor in GE15.

Awang Azman Pawi of Universiti Malaya said the positive public reception party president Anwar Ibrahim was enjoying as prime minister would see PKR win over voters.

In GE15, PKR lost strongholds like Kapar, Kuala Langat and Hulu Selangor to PN, which also won the Sabak Bernam, Sungai Besar and Tanjong Karang parliamentary seats.

Azmi and Awang Azman agreed that a PH-BN pact would stave off PN’s onslaught in the state, but Awang Azman said this would depend on how well the two coalitions worked together.

Azmi predicted that state constituencies within the parliamentary districts of Hulu Selangor (Hulu Bernam, Kuala Kubu Baru and Batang Kali) and Sungai Besar (Sungai Panjang and Sekinchan) would be key battlegrounds in the elections.

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